


Mornings in Late Summer

by Oakwyrm



Series: Training Dragons in TI [6]
Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, M/M, Mutual Pining, Swimming, That doesn't get resolved in this fic 'cause Gregor is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 09:37:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11987136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakwyrm/pseuds/Oakwyrm
Summary: Gregor and Zalvetta spend a calm summer morning by their lake.





	Mornings in Late Summer

**Author's Note:**

> Heeey look it's another httyd au thing.

Early mornings in late summer, when the light of dawn was pale in the sky but anyone who was awake knew it was ridiculously early. When the nights had only just returned after two and a half months of the midnight sun. Being awake those early mornings felt to Gregor like he was walking in a realm where he didn't belong like there was magic all around him. In the fog that crawled across the ground, in the pale sky, and in the still silence of the world.

More often than not on those mornings, he was still fast asleep in his bed. Any magic that twisted its way around the houses of Berk, following the fog as it danced across the ground, was of no concern to him. This morning that wasn't the case.

He flipped over in his bed, groaning slightly as sleep continued to escape him. The troubled dreams that had plagued his sleep were only half remembered now that he was awake but somehow that managed to make them worse. Vague shadows of fear that he couldn't quite make out. The world outside was quiet and still. In the distance, if he focused intently on listening, he could hear a bird chatter, but that was about it. Still, the shores of sleep were no nearer.

Conceding defeat he slowly got up, throwing the covers off himself. He walked to the window and unlatched the shutters, letting the early morning light in. The chill of a summer night was still in the air. Gregor breathed in deeply and shook himself off, whatever little remnants of sleep had remained in his brain were now completely gone. He was wide awake and quite plainly there was nothing to be done about it.

Deciding he might as well get his day started he quickly got himself ready, grabbing his daytime clothes and a small mug of cold water from downstairs. He moved as quietly as humanly possible so as to avoid waking his father, though if the snoring was anything to go by he doubted anything short of a dragon raid actually could. Having successfully retrieved the water he snuck back up to his room and settled by the window, looking out over the sea and the dawn.

“Oh, you're awake.” Zalvetta's voice made him blink and lean out of the window to see where his friend was this time. When he turned his head upwards he found Zalvetta waving down at him from the top of the roof.

“Morning.” He smiled, ducking back into his room as Zalvetta slid down and dropped in through the window. If Gregor had to choose one person who seemed to belong in the world created by the summer dawn that person would unquestionably be Zalvetta. There was just something about him that made him fit so well in with the soft light and the mist. Gregor could never quite put his finger on what it was, though.

“You're not usually awake this early, are you ok?” Zalvetta asked, frowning slightly. Gregor nodded, turning to look out the window again.

“Just couldn't sleep,” he said, knowing full well that for him that did sound concerning. Zalvetta's brow furrowed further and Gregor quickly began to cast about for an excuse to change the subject. His eyes drifted from the sea to what he could see of the cliffs and the forest.

Flimsy excuse found he sprang to his feet and grabbed Zalvetta's hand. “Come with me.”

Zalvetta blinked but followed along as Gregor climbed out of the window and slid down the roof to the ground.

“Do you have anywhere in mind?” Zalvetta asked as they continued towards the edge of town and up towards the forest, still hand in hand. Gregor already had a place in mind, and he felt pretty secure in that Zalvetta wouldn't mind. Still, it never hurt to check.

“The lake?” he said. Zalvetta nodded and they altered their course slightly to aim for the higher parts of the island where they had found an isolated, very well hidden lake on a winter's day long ago.

They walked along familiar pathways, making their way steadily up higher. There was only one place on Berk the two of them hadn't been to at some point, and that was because it was completely unreachable by regular mortals. They'd explored all they could explore, from the high cliffs to the caves by the shore. Exploring the island now might have been boring if there was such a thing as permanence in nature. Walking along familiar paths and passing familiar landmarks always brought with it something new. Sometimes it was something big they hadn't seen before, sometimes it was the small things. The point was that there was always a chance of change, something which made simple walks into adventures or gave them something interesting to think about.

As the sun slowly rose the night's chill drained out of the air. The mist curling about the trees started to dissipate and the world around them brightened. Gregor released Zalvetta's hand in favour of moving tree branches out of the way and clearing the path to the lake. Zalvetta ducked under Gregor's arm, walking into the high clearing that held the lake. Not the only lake on Berk, mind you, that wasn't why it was _the_ lake. It was the lake because it was their lake.

The sight that greeted them was a familiar one, but the familiarity did not change the beauty of it. A large lake stretched out before them, still and silent this morning, reflecting perfectly the sky and the forest around it. Zalvetta ran down towards the shore quickly and let himself fall onto the grass. Gregor followed closely after, sitting down next to Zalvetta and staring out over the lake. Zalvetta turned over onto his stomach and crossed his arms, leaning his head down on them as a kind of pillow.

“There's probably something cool down there,” he remarked, looking up at Gregor. Gregor nodded.

“Yeah! Like dragon scales or an old treasure!” he grinned. Zalvetta buried his face further in his arms, but Gregor knew he was smiling.

“The dragon scales I'll buy but how would treasure get all the way up here?” he asked.

“Dragons,” Gregor answered. Zalvetta looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

“So dragons stole someone's money and then dropped it into a lake?”

“Not on purpose, but yes.” Gregor stared at the water's surface, his eyes shining with curiosity. “Hey Zalvetta how come we've never tried to see what's down there before?” he asked. Zalvetta shrugged, rolling onto his back and staring up at the sky as clouds slowly rolled by. A moment of silence passed and he let himself drift only to be quickly yanked out of it when a sleeve fell onto his face, followed quickly by the sound of a splash.

He sat up and turned, the sleeve of Gregor's tunic falling off of him. As he had suspected, large ripples on the water's surface told him that Gregor had indeed decided to solve whatever mystery the lake might hold. Zalvetta sat back and stared at the water for a moment before Gregor resurfaced behind a nearby rock.

“Find anything?” Zalvetta asked. Gregor shook his head.

“I only just started looking, though,” his tone was hopeful and Zalvetta was halfway sure that if there wasn't already something in the lake the Gods would put something there just to avoid disappointing him. After all, not even the Gods could be immune to Gregor's smile. It was impossible.

Gregor pushed himself away from the rock and dove beneath the surface again. The cold water rushed against his face as he dove, squinting at the lake bottom. He slowed his strokes somewhat and let himself drift, scanning his surroundings for anything interesting. The underwater world felt almost timeless, things slowed down and became far calmer, but he was on a mission. He couldn't let the tranquillity of the lake distract him.

A slight shine in the sand sent him diving further, gently brushing the sand off a dragon scale, brownish-red in colour if he had to make a guess. From what he could parse in the water he guessed it wasn't naturally shed, knocked off in a fight no doubt.

He grabbed it and turned quickly towards the surface, his lungs starting to remind him that he was human and he did need air to survive. He breached the surface, pushing his hair out of his eyes and re-orienting himself. Finding Zalvetta again he quickly made his way back to shore. Zalvetta's eyes fixed on his hand, closed around the dragon scale.

“Look,” Gregor grinned, showing off his find. The scale shone brighter in his palm than it had at the bottom of the lake. He could properly make out its colour now, a bright red, leaning towards orange.

“What do you think it's from?” Zalvetta asked. Gregor frowned at the scale, turning it over in his hands.

“Hideous Zippleback,” he said after a moment. Zalvetta raised an eyebrow.

“I would've said Monstrous Nightmare,” he said. Gregor shook his head.

“It's not the right shape. I don't think.”

Zalvetta shrugged. “We can ask Firi when we get back into town.” Gregor nodded and handed the scale to Zalvetta, who set it down on the grass and watched as Gregor disappeared back below the surface of the lake.

Once again the water welcomed him back into a world of quiet calm. Slowly he kicked his way forwards, watching as a startled fish darted back into hiding at his approach. He caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye but when he turned all he found was a small stone, sitting neatly on a larger one, glittering with fool's gold.

Deciding to leave it alone he briefly resurfaced for another breath of air before continuing his search. The sun was rising higher and he and Zalvetta would soon be missed. He'd have to get out and dry off soon if he wanted to avoid worrying his dad too much.

He dove a little deeper, eyes scanning the bottom of the lake carefully. He almost missed it, the strange gleam that caught the corner of his eye. He would have missed it had the sun had been in any other place in the sky. He turned, expecting fool's gold again, and found himself unable to tell what exactly he was looking at. He reached down and grabbed it out of the sand where it sat and returned to the surface to examine it.

In his hand was a smooth, oval, stone. He blinked at it for a second before submerging it again to clean the last of the sand off it. It was a bright blue in colour, though the exact shade changed in places, and it shone brightly under the morning sun. He looked over to where Zalvetta sat on the beach, staring out at him with interest.

“What'd you find?” Zalvetta asked once he was within earshot. Gregor took a moment to answer, waiting until he'd reached the point where he could walk across the floor of the lake.

“A cool rock,” he said, holding it up so Zalvetta could see it.

“That looks like it's supposed to be on a fancy belt or something,” Zalvetta said, getting up and backing off a few paces once Gregor was out of the lake. Gregor shook himself off as best he could, dropping the stone down on his shirt as he started to squeeze the last of the water out of his hair. Zalvetta walked back to his previous spot and sat down.

“Who do you think it belonged to?” Gregor asked, shaking his head one last time for good measure. Zalvetta shrugged.

“Not anyone we know,” he said. Gregor nodded, picking the stone back up and absently shaking stray blades of grass off his tunic.

“You keep it,” he said, pushing it into Zalvetta's hands. Zalvetta blinked and looked down at the smooth blue stone sitting in the palm of his hand as Gregor got dressed again.

“Why?” he asked after a moment, even as his hand closed protectively around it. Gregor stopped in the middle of pulling his braid out of his tunic and looked at Zalvetta for a moment. Then he shrugged and pulled his hair the rest of the way out of his collar.

“It feels right,” he said and left it at that, unable to find the exact words for why it did. Zalvetta looked down at the stone again and smiled.

“Let's head back. Your dad's probably looking for you by now.”


End file.
